Too much

[sekritomg]

I have reached a point where I have started writing too many things to ever finish them all. I am going to be gone a whole lot over the next month, and imaginaaation is holding a contest that I have got to finish a story for by June 30.

What should I work on?

- A dramatic story about death?
- A tense story about body modification?
- A boisterous story about fake hipsters?
- A graphic story about geometry?
- A mournful story about adoption?
- A first-person story about promises? I can write this, but not in the first person.
- A funny story about gender identity?
- "The Other Table"?
- ETA 6/12: A cracked-out story about Kyle having a vagina? (This story isn't deep enough to pretend to be vague and cool about it.)
- ETA 6/12: A fluffy story about antiquing?

Without telling you which is which, one of these stories doesn't have Stan or Kyle in it at all, one isn't actually slash, one that is slash isn't Stan/Kyle, two are multi-chaptered, one is set during college, and one of them, I haven't even begun writing.

Comments

[destrokker.livejournal.com]

I remember when fandom was mostly on websites and archives. Sigh. It was like a year ago.

Me, too, man. Somehow all of it managed to shift over onto communities, and it seems like the lower quality stuff is on webpages now or something, and all the juicy, good stuff is hidden away in a thousand different communities. Go figure!

How do you get rejected for/from/[insert proper preposition here] a fanlisting?

In order to get rejected for a fanlisting, someone else has to apply for it, too, and the staffers of the network determine who is a "better" candidate as the owner. I think it was just between me and another person and so I ended up getting rejected. I would be sobbing myself to sleep still but I realized later on (after the rejection) that I kind of wrote a crappy application (you have to write applications in order to be considered for a fanlisting) so I only blame myself. XD Ugh, the pain.

The problem is I either write really quickly or really slowly, in weird fits and spurts, and actually, I edit really slowly. So who knows when anything will be done. Sorry.

x3 I edit slowly, too. So slowly, in fact, that by the time I'm done, I'm usually less enthralled with my work than when I began writing it, so it feels like a pitiful job by the time I finish.

Oh, god, that was my pathetic attempt at a spur-of-the-moment random example of a cracked out story. I'm not going to write it. But I'd read it! Maybe you should get on that.

Hey, I'd still read it. XD Speaking of spur-of-the-moment cracked out stories, have you been stalking/paying attention to the South Park kink meme (http://community.livejournal.com/crack_rack/10672.html)? I participated in one of those for another fandom, but never thought I'd see a South Park one. I think everything people have posted so far is either deliciously warped or just all together amazing. Then there are some requests that make me LOL really obnoxiously because of the WTF factor.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

I still have no idea what kind of SP stuff is on FF.net versus DeviantArt versus Y!Gal versus LiveJournal versus places I've never even heard of. I kind of wish it was all centralized.

Man, fanlistings are hardcore. I'll refrain from any more comment because I don't really know a lot about them.

I never know how anything will be received. I hang onto things rereading and reworking them forever because it makes me nervous. If I were just writing for myself, which I do, I wouldn't really care, but I have this idea that to a certain extent it's not worth writing fan fiction if people don't enjoy it.

Yes, I have been stalking the kink meme. I've actually both requested things and written things for that stupid meme. I totally, totally love it. I like that it's anonymous, really. Oh, and I like that most of the requests are for Stan/Kyle or at least Kyle. I really don't know why Kyle is the fandom whore/bitch, but it works, or something.

(Now I'm convinced you have something to do with the vampire story on there. Which made me way too happy, actually.)

[destrokker.livejournal.com]

I wish I could take credit for having to do with the vampire prompt, but alas, I don't. Actually, I saw it yesterday afternoon and thought maybe you requested it, haha! XDD

But, yeah, I requested one thing and filled a request back for the sake of a good deed. (I couldn't just take, I had to give back, man.) I would request a second prompt, but in reality, everyone else's are so damn good that I don't really feel the need. Oh, but I will admit I'm one of the two retards who accidentally commented on the post instead of the proper thread. *felt really stupid after that*

Yeah, the absurd amount of Stan/Kyle requests and just Kyle in general makes me so happy. You're right, he is the fandom bitch, and I'd probably be more concerned with it if I didn't, admittedly, love it. DX

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Mystery half-solved!

No, the things I requested were really boring. And the things I wrote were really boring. Anyway, you know you could totally have just let the accidental commenting go and no one would ever have known. I love that this meme is anonymous. That's the best part of it, for serious.

Anyway, can you imagine being fixated on, say, Token, and finding the SP fandom and just being incredibly let down? Like, all you ever wanted in life was some really awesome Timmy porn, and there isn't any to speak of? And you were just like, what is all this shit, I don't care about Kyle? I mean, I can't imagine it, I love raping/torturing/objectifying/feminizing/fixating on Kyle. But I'm sure someone out there is just like, oh, balls.

I'm actually waiting for the real Stan/Kyle backlash to begin. Which obviously I hope it doesn't.

Sorry, I'm obsessed with the mechanics of online fandom. I think it would be a great topic for a dissertation. Specifically, the dissertation I've been secretly writing in my head for five years.

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

(I TOTALLY WROTE THE VAMPIRE FIC. PLEASE EXCUSE ME WHILE I BLOW MY COVER AND MARVEL AT HOW SMALL THE INTERNET REALLY IS.)

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

OH

MY

GOD

You wrote that? Do you have any idea how much I fucking loved it? I was over at my friend's house (yeah, I check the South Park kink meme at my friend's houses, that's how cool I am) and I made him shut up for 10 minutes so I could just read it and be like, floored. OH MY GOD.

You totally didn't have to reveal that you wrote it, either. IT MADE ME SO FUCKING HAPPY.

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

SERIOUSLY? Oh, god, that makes me unbelievably happy. That ficlet was simply every vampire cliché in the book, but I had far too much fun writing it...I mean, COME ON. Fucking VAMPIRES, man. I'm just relieved you don't seem to think less of me for it. I try not to indulge in my own over-sexualized slash fantasies, but that one just slipped out.

Of course, that's probably the only thing I'll EVER admit to having written under a different name. Let the other horrendous pieces of porn die in obscurity, plzthnx.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Okay, sweet, here we go with the replying.

All right, the whole meme (I am extremely serious when I say it's the best thing that ever happened to me), I have been trying to see if I can figure out who wrote what/if anyone can figure out what I wrote. I'm so into it. It's addicting. I realize how sad this is, but I'm surprisingly cool with it.

But yeah, really, I am so into vampires. I generally am not into fanfic/vampire mish-mashing, but all the cliches just made it so good, and the angst, and Cartman the vampire douche, that was awesome. I swear to god, man. I realize requests keep coming (coming, lol) but it's my favorite product of this meme so far.

I can't believe you admitted it, seriously. I think it was worth owning up to, though.

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

I've also been studying the writing and the requests and everything. I want to accuse you of some pretty fucking amazing pieces, but trying to call you out totally defeats the whole purpose of it, so I will simply say that this meme is possibly the most beautiful thing in the entire universe. I wonder how many people are actually participating? More than four, fewer than eight? Half of me wishes I knew, half of me is glad I don't. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT.

Writing a serious vampire story sounds like a halfway decent idea to me now, they are so fucking fun, but I'm positive I'd get stoned or sent to live with PETA or something. Thank you for making me feel less like a freak about this whole thing!!! Strongly suspect that my lame ass fic is only exciting to you because you can't count your own fabulous stories as contributions, but AGAIN. That's for you to know and for me to never find out.

I forgot to comment on your edit earlier! I am highly intrigued by both antiquing and Kyle with a vagina. I mean, a literal one, right?? I would die happy.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

I mean, there are more people requesting than writing, right? As for how many are writing, it's hard to know. Styles are difficult to follow. There's not a lot of actual honest-to-god porn in this fandom anyway, so that's kind of jarring. (But really good.) There is also a lot of overlap with formatting, like whether someone's been using parentheses or brackets or whatever. I'm not looking to reveal anything. It's just fun. I hope the fun continues forever. More fun in 2008. What I've written is probably underwhelming. But you'll never know, ahahaha.

No, I think what you wrote is perfect vampire-length. A long story (and I have read plenty of -- brace yourself -- vampire hobbit fic) tends to get bogged down in machinations and semantics and vampire fic with a plot usually fails, which is why the best vampire fiction, in my opinion, for whatever it's worth, either has no plot (Interview) or an untraditional narrative (Dracula). You captured the emotions/aesthetics/moods/novelty of a vampire story without any of the trappings. Oh, and Kyle gets abused in some way. Well done.

I actually wrote this post because I keep losing track of everything I'm writing. So I figure I'll add to it as necessary. Anyway, yeah, Kyle with a very literal vagina. What a concept. I probably deserve to go to prison or something at this point.

Antiquing is a whole other thing. How do you feel about that?

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there must be. Is it stupid that I've started shaking things up stylistically as a precaution? Yes, that is stupid, but I don't care. I really hope this thread doesn't die. There have been longer stretches of inactivity recently. I want to pimp it somewhere, except that's calling too much attention to me and everyone else. Oh, well. You and I can do our best.

You said some very insightful things there, but I am stuck on vampire hobbits. VAMPIRE FUCKING HOBBITS. You're for real?? Is it good, and is there actually a decently-sized audience for it?? I never read much Lord of the Rings fanfiction, because I tried a couple that destroyed the original language and turned me off for a while. Also, that fandom was too intelligent for me when I might've been in it. Hurrhurr. I don't know what that says about me.

I'll keep watching this post for updates. I want Kyle with a sandy vagina so bad. If people prosecuted for fandom-related crimes, I suspect most of us would be serving consecutive life sentences by now.

I want to go antiquing quite badly. How the hell does one start? Do I just need to find a shop, or is more investigative and involved than that?

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

As a matter of fact, I have been trying to cover my tracks with the meme, too. Like it matters. Oh well. Catch me if you can, etc. I have a headache.

Yeah, I'm for real. No, it's not good. Is there a decently sized audience? Let me put it this way: The LOTR fandom -- well, the hobbit fandom, anyway -- was very willing to embrace or even applaud anything as long as it was written by a BNF or widely admired author. I don't necessarily think that vampires were as beloved as the authors writing about them. I should clarify that I was really only interested in hobbits (from a fandom angle, anyhow; I am a sadly huge Token fan on like an academic level), and that my participation in the fandom was limited, more or less, to lurking. Still, I had a couple run-ins, and blah blah wankity wank, I will conclude by saying that the hobbit fandom was extremely intelligent. Sadly, they were also entirely without humor, and far from friendly. I have never been so thrilled to be into something as I'm thrilled to be into gay South Park fan fiction. I didn't know it would be like this, but I'm real glad it is.

Antiquing. Mmm, I guess you just show up at some stores? Are there flea markets in your area? It's just a pretentious way to say you shop for antiques, am I right? I'm sorry, this headache is ruining my life. I'm going to bed.

Also, this antiquing fic I keep referring to is less about antiques than it is about butt sex. I mean, really.

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

Okay, I finally caved and looked up the term "BNF." Sorry. Is this a person who is a fan of a well-known author/artist, or is it the author/artist herself? (I feel relatively safe using "herself" there, haha.) At any rate, it's amazing how really popular members of a fandom can totally change it at will, vampire hobbits a case in point. I think you probably learn more from lurking than actually being in a fandom, actually, just because you aren't required to defend your clique friends and such. God, now, I have to admit that sounds too cool for words: smart and humorless. I've always wanted to be a cigarette-toting stoic with some type of enviable, inherent genius; that just seems so…chic. Aw, how lame am I? I’m sure that makes for a very challenging fandom, though. So then you’ve got South Park, which is generally pretty smart and hilarious, yet there are no vampire-Ikes running around. I wish I knew what this all means.

Oh, yeah! We’ve got the Mile High Flea Market. I’ve boycotted them because their commercials are fucking obnoxious, but I suppose I could make an exception for antiquing. I hope I run into some butt sex while I’m there. Uh, not literally.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

UGH. I owe you so many responses. Please forgive me. This keyboard is making it real hard to write things.

Yeah, a BNF is a well-known member of a fandom. Sometimes these people attract their own following. I mean, I suppose it´s open to interpretation and variation, but usually these people are known fandom-wide, and sometimes their influence even leaks out of the fandom. For example there are some fandom-related memes that have kind of gotten into real-life society, although what those are, I´m not sure. Somebody like Steve Vanderark (or whatever -- this computer is too weird for me to look it up), the guy getting sued by JK Rowling, would be a BNF because he and his work have become widely publicized outside of the online HP fandom. In SP it´s harder to identify BNFs because we are ALL SO FLY but if I had to pick someone I might pick ... Kinky Chichi? Because friends of mine in other fandoms who know nothing about SP know her work, and have brought her up. The biggest BNF of all time I think is Cassandra Clare or whoever -- her fan fiction was so popular she got a book deal and she wrote the Very Secret Diaries and so on. I don´t know, this is all very skewed probably. Sorry if this is too much information you didn´t want.

The thing with the SP fandom -- I think -- is that you would be hard-pressed to come up with something that would never, ever happen in canon. Whereas JRR Tolkien was very much dead, very staid, very established, anything a SP fan could invent -- everyone being gay, everyone being a vampire, mpreg, random gender switches, alternate universes, someone being raped, weird jumps into the future, dressing up a Nazi, a character repeatedly dying and coming back to life -- could very easily happen in the show. And in fact, as you know, many of those things have happened on the show. It follows no patterns, really -- when it comes back in October, it very well may have jumped ahead to high school and the boys are all gay and nominating each other for prom queen. I mean, I really don´t think that will happen, but you can´t say that it couldn´t. Whereas it is very possible to say that Gandalf would never be a vampire, because, well, he just isn´t one.

So it´s very easy for some fandoms to develop a sort of set of rules of what´s acceptable. And then when you become beloved by the lesser members of said fandom, you can do whatever you want and people will like it because you´re a BNF and they have to.

Did I mention that I really like fandom as a concept? I have to go write more of this antiquing story. I have to get it done by June 30, deadline or not deadline.

Anyway, I am so sorry I haven´t been up on responses and e-mails and shit. I´ll get back on it ... slowly. I hope this one reply appeases you. (That is, if you cared.)

[imaginaaation.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweet. Thank you, I think I got it! Except that I thought there was only one BNF per fandom, which you cleared up in some other dA thread. So is this exclusively for the sci-fi/fantasy genres, or is the Wikipedia article totally antiquated? I've read way too much about Cassandra Clare in the last week or so, and her--skill, luck? I haven't actually read anything of hers--is so amazing, and sooo agonizing. God, how I would love to think that I'm not completely wasting my time writing fanfiction all the time. Too bad I am SO WELL-GROUNDED IN REALITY. As if agents are just perusing FF.net for new talent, right? Not that it was that simple, I'm sure, but I am still insanely jealous. Tell me right away if she's not the type of person I should be envying.

South Park really is a crack fandom, isn't it! I'd never really thought about it that way. I seriously can't think up an idea that a decently-written fanfic couldn't get away with. Gosh, this is a liberating revelation! I forgot, what's stopping us from writing mpreg vampire-pirate kink Craig/Mr. Slave fanfiction? Morals or something? PSHHH.

I'm seriously responding badly. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all that; I'm far more interested and grateful than this reply is coming off.

[sekrit-omg.livejournal.com]

Well, I mean, it's relative to the fandom. Some fandoms really only have one person who writes fic. You know? Therefore, one default BNF. It's probably not worth thinking about. As for Cassandra Clare, well, she mostly wrote HP, and like I said, I haven't read any of it. The Very Secret Diaries, however: http://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/. Granted, at this point, I think they're boring, repetitive, and kind of not that funny. But still, I guess it sparked all these memes. I don't know. She was also much accused of various acts of plagiarism, none of which I can give you details regarding because, like I said, I have little to know knowledge of anything relating to Draco Malfoy porn. So, should you be jealous? I think it depends on whether or not you would like the alternative us to be having this discussion about you. (Disclaimer: I don't know her, never met her, never crossed fandom paths with her, am probably wrong about everything.)

Wow, Craig/Mr. Slave mpreg vampires. How would that even work? Actually, I think I would prefer Mr. Slave/Craig. Craig gets out of a boring relationship, wants to seek out his darker side, runs into Mr. Slave at the Nuthouse, they start talking ... oh, Jesus Christ. Next.

You don't have to be grateful. Don't you see? I like writing about this bullshit.